empowerment

Empowerment is the power granted by one person or institution to another. The government can grant empowerment to a department to effect change, or a person can grant empowerment to her lawyer to sign contracts on her behalf.

In the US of the 1950s and 60s, there were a number of groups that sought empowerment against oppression. Some of these included the Civil Rights Movement, led by a number of powerful members including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. During this period, César Chávez worked for the rights of Latinos and farm workers. There were a number of other empowerment movements as well, each working to gain power for an oppressed group.